100 Coolest Things... #s 90 - 81

And we continue with our list of Dave's 100 Coolest Things About 2006...

#100 - 91

90. Jo Dee Messina’s “Delicious Surprise”
What truly is a surprise is that I liked this cd. A lot, actually. I checked it out from the Hoover Public Library on the strength of her latest single “My Give A Damn’s Busted”, which I couldn’t remember if I liked or not… and it ends up, that song, which I actually do kinda like, might be the weakest song on the whole album. Its your typical country woman affair—heartache, girl power, going out tonight! kinda stuff—but its Jo Dee’s delivery I enjoy. Nothing here comes close to her 5-star-on-my-iPod beauty, “Heads Carolina, Tails California”, but nonetheless, this is worth a listen.

89. “Snakes on a Plane”
I’m tired of all these cotton pickin’ snakes on this cotton pickin’ plane. Read my review right here.

88. Taylor Hicks
Kelly Clarkson is Kelly Clarkson. Ruben’s fifteen minutes is up (and apparently, so is Clay’s). Fantasia I can’t stand. Carrie Underwood is awesome. And Taylor Hicks? Original. I will admit, his whole “soul patrol” shtick became tiresome after a while, and yet, it was fun watching him sing, it was fun listening to Simon Cowell wonder why anyone even liked him, and if you can find his pre-Idol stuff, its definitely worth a listen.

87. Heroes
If I weren't about four episodes behind, this show would probably rank much, much higher. As it is, its one of the biggest shows of the season, a series about people who discover they have abilities and talents that aren't... well, normal. One can't be injured, one can scrunch his face and stop time, one can see the future (when he's high, that is) and of course, "Save the cheerleader, save the world". I'm diggin' it.

86. Wordjong on My Phone
One day, back in 2005, when I was at the movies by myself awaiting the start of the picture, I got bored. So I flipped on my phone, logged on and downloaded a word game. Its called Wordjong and you simply have to make words out of a stack of tiles… when you eliminate all the tiles, you win. When you win three or four times, you advance a rank, starting with something silly like “Glass Rooster” or whatever. I’m all the way up to “Silver Lion”, having passed through such precious metals like brass, bronze and iron. And it’s a great time-waster when I’m in the bathroom. I’ll stop there.

85. Nelly Furtado’s “Loose”
My running joke used to be that Avril Lavigne was 2004’s Nelly Furtado. One or two annoying songs that were overplayed (“Sk8ter Boi”, anyone?) and then *poof*… gone. And it was true. Until this year. Nelly released “Loose” and everything I didn’t like about her on her first few attempts suddenly changed into something I enjoyed. It’s a silly album, really… “Promiscuous” is a ridiculous song, but yet, its got a “Hollaback Girl” enjoyable quality to it. I'm loving “Maneater” and “Say It Right", though… a very fun CD to drive to. Who knew?

84. “Tim McGraw” by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is only 16 or 17, but she sings far above her years. “Tim McGraw” is a bittersweet song about a girl who’s getting over a relationship, and wishing upon her –ex to hear a certain Tim McGraw song, “their song” if you will. And when he hears it, she wants him to think of all the great things he’s missing, including “that little black dress, think of my head on your chest and my old faded blue jeans…”. Ouch. Reportedly, both Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill love the song. And so do I.

83. Deal or No Deal
What an absurd premise. Twenty six chicks, each with a briefcase appear, and the lucky contestant has to pick one case. Then, that case aside, start opening other cases, hoping that none will contain high dollar amounts… you’ve seen this before, surely? It kills me that The Banker will offer $125,000 to walk away, but no! Just one more case to open… just one more… just in case I can get that million, even though I’ve got a guaranteed $125K staring at me. And they open up the case, it holds the $1,000,000 amount, and suddenly their offer from $125K goes down to $43K, and somehow, someway, the person walks away with $18,000. No chump change… but greed gets ya everytime. And I can’t stop watching.


So, let me ask you... Deal... or no deal?

82. “John Tucker Must Die”
There was nothing about this movie that made me want to see it. Absolutely nothing, except my wife Stephanie almost begging to spend the two bucks at the $1 theater for us to go. So I did. And you know what? I actually enjoyed this stupid movie. It was funny. It was sweet. The plot, though silly, had heart. And Brittany Snow is worth the price of admission, because she’s absolutely charming, in a… dare I say Annette Bening “American President” sort of way? Not sure I’ll be picking up the DVD anytime soon, but its worth a re-watch when it comes on HBO in a few months.

81. Thelma & Norma in the Citicard Identity Theft Commercials
Spending limits? Who cares? Not us, cause them ain’t our credit cards.. sho’ ain’t. Them motorcycles was expensive… and fast! And loud! Aw yeah, them bikes be like WAAAAAAHHHHH… no no, they be like BUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUB… they be like WAAAAAHHHHH… hee hee… sounds good cause they free… shoot. Yeah, shoot. (And no, I didn't watch the link to get the script, I knew it by heart... I wish I were kidding)

Up next: #80 thru 71